Today we’re heading to the very heart of Italy, where every dish is a story of generations, Mediterranean sun, and boundless love for real ingredients. Two iconic recipes, two utterly different characters of Italian cuisine — from the generous home-style classic of Emilia-Romagna to the elegant cold appetizer of Piedmont.
A luxurious layered bake of thin pasta sheets, generously filled with rich Bolognese meat ragù and the most delicate béchamel sauce, crowned with a golden Parmesan crust. The taste — deep and warming, with the perfect balance of juicy meat and creamy tenderness.
Ingredients:
• Lasagna sheets (dried or fresh) — 12–15 pieces
• Ground beef — 400 g
• Ground pork — 200 g
• Pancetta (or bacon) — 100 g
• Yellow onion — 1 large
• Carrot — 1 medium
• Celery stalk — 1 piece
• Tomato paste — 2 tablespoons
• Canned tomatoes (pelati) — 400 g
• Dry red wine — 150 ml
• Milk — 100 ml
• Olive oil — 3 tablespoons
• Butter — 80 g
• Wheat flour — 60 g
• Milk (for béchamel) — 800 ml
• Nutmeg — a pinch
• Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) — 120 g
• Salt, black pepper — to taste
• Bay leaf — 1 piece
Method:
Step 1. Soffritto.
Dice the onion, carrot, and celery into tiny 3–4 mm cubes (a classic brunoise). Cut the pancetta into small pieces, roughly 5 mm each. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or saucepan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and fry for 3–4 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the pieces turn lightly golden. Add the chopped vegetables and cook over moderate heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is completely translucent and the carrot is soft.
Step 2. Meat ragù (ragù).
Turn the heat up high and add the ground beef and pork. Break up the meat with a spatula, stirring vigorously. Fry for 7–8 minutes, until the meat has completely lost its pink color and begins to brown slightly. Pour in the red wine and let it evaporate completely — about 3 minutes, until the smell of alcohol disappears. Add the tomato paste, stir, then pour in the canned tomatoes, crushing them with a spoon. Add the bay leaf, milk (100 ml), salt, and pepper. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cover with a lid, leaving a small gap, and simmer the ragù for at least 1.5–2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. The finished ragù should be thick, a deep dark brick-red color, with tender meat that falls apart.
Step 3. Béchamel sauce.
Melt 80 g of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the butter has melted and stopped foaming, add the flour and whisk vigorously for 2 minutes — the mixture (roux) should become smooth and lightly golden, with a faint nutty aroma, but without turning brown. Gradually, in 150–200 ml portions, pour in the cold milk, whisking continuously to prevent lumps from forming. Once all the milk has been added, continue cooking over medium heat for 5–7 minutes, stirring constantly. The sauce is ready when it thickens to the consistency of thin sour cream and coats the back of a spoon with confidence. Remove from the heat and add a pinch of nutmeg, salt, and white pepper.
Step 4. Preparing the pasta sheets.
If you are using dried lasagna sheets, boil them in plenty of salted water (1 tablespoon of salt per 4 liters of water) according to the package instructions, but for 1–2 minutes less than stated — they should be flexible but still slightly firm (al dente), as they will finish cooking in the oven. Lay them out in a single layer on a clean towel so they do not stick together. Fresh sheets do not need to be pre-boiled.
Step 5. Assembling the lasagna.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (convection) or 190 °C (top and bottom heat). Take a rectangular baking dish measuring roughly 25×35 cm. Spread a thin layer of béchamel across the bottom. Then arrange the layers in the following order: pasta sheets — Bolognese ragù — béchamel — a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan. Repeat 4–5 times. The top layer should be: pasta — béchamel — a lavish sprinkling of Parmesan. Make sure every pasta sheet is covered with sauce — any exposed edges will dry out in the oven.
Step 6. Baking.
Cover the dish with foil (without pressing it onto the surface, so the cheese does not stick) and place it in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Then remove the foil and continue baking for another 15–20 minutes, until the top crust is golden brown with dark spots of caramelization, and bubbles of boiling sauce are visible around the edges of the dish.
Step 7. Resting and serving.
Take the lasagna out of the oven and let it rest at room temperature for 15–20 minutes. This is critically important: during that time, the layers will set, the sauces will thicken, and each serving will hold its shape when sliced instead of spreading out. Cut into rectangular portions with a sharp knife. Serve garnished with a fresh basil leaf.
💡 Fact: Classic Lasagna alla Bolognese is protected by the Italian Academy of Cuisine (Accademia Italiana della Cucina), which registered its official recipe in 2003. According to Bolognese tradition, true lasagna is made exclusively with green pasta (with spinach added to the dough), although the version made with regular egg pasta has long become standard across Italy and the world.
An elegant cold dish from Piedmont: paper-thin slices of the most tender boiled veal, covered in a silky, creamy sauce of tuna, capers, and anchovies. The taste — an astonishing balance of delicate meat and piquant maritime freshness, with a light lemon tang.
Ingredients:
• Veal tenderloin (or top round, in one piece) — 800 g
• Canned tuna in olive oil — 200 g
• Anchovies in oil — 4 fillets
• Capers — 2 tablespoons + a handful for garnish
• Egg yolks — 2 pieces (hard-boiled)
• Lemon juice — 2 tablespoons
• Extra virgin olive oil — 80 ml
• Dry white wine — 250 ml
• Carrot — 1 medium
• Yellow onion — 1 medium
• Celery stalk — 1 piece
• Bay leaves — 2 pieces
• Black peppercorns — 5–6 pieces
• Cloves — 2 buds
• Salt — to taste
Method:
Step 1. Preparing the meat and broth.
Take the veal out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you start cooking, so the meat can come to room temperature. Peel the carrot and cut it lengthwise into 4 pieces. Cut the onion in half, leaving one layer of peel on (this will give the broth a golden color). Cut the celery into large 5 cm pieces. Tie the piece of veal with kitchen twine in 3–4 places so that it retains a compact cylindrical shape while cooking.
Step 2. Poaching the veal.
Place the meat, vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cloves into a suitably sized pot. Cover with cold water so that it rises 3–4 cm above the meat. Add the white wine and a teaspoon of salt. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat to the lowest setting — the liquid should barely bubble, never boil vigorously. Cook for 50–60 minutes. Check for doneness with a cooking thermometer: the internal temperature at the thickest point should reach 68–70 °C. The meat should be fully cooked but remain tender and juicy, pale pink when sliced.
Step 3. Cooling the meat.
Do not remove the veal from the broth right away. Take the pot off the heat and let the meat cool completely in the broth itself — this will take 2–3 hours. Cooling in the liquid prevents it from drying out and allows the meat to absorb the aromas of the broth. Once fully cooled, remove the meat, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (ideally overnight). Strain the broth and save 3–4 tablespoons for the sauce.
Step 4. Making the tonnato sauce.
Place the canned tuna in a blender bowl (drain off the excess oil, but not all of it — a couple of spoonfuls of oil will come in handy), along with the anchovy fillets, capers (2 tablespoons), two cooked egg yolks, lemon juice, and 2–3 tablespoons of cooled broth. Blend at high speed for 1–2 minutes until completely smooth. Then, without turning off the blender, pour in the olive oil in a thin stream — the sauce should emulsify and become smooth and creamy, with a consistency resembling thick mayonnaise. Taste for salt and acidity: if needed, add more lemon juice or a pinch of salt. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with broth, one spoonful at a time.
Step 5. Slicing the veal.
Take the chilled meat from the refrigerator and remove the kitchen twine. Use the sharpest long knife you have. Slice the veal across the grain into 3–4 mm slices — they should be nearly transparent, even, and neat. Cold meat slices far more easily and cleanly than warm meat, so do not skimp on the chilling time.
Step 6. Assembling the dish.
On a large flat platter (ideally white, for contrast), arrange the veal slices in a single layer, slightly overlapping, in a circle or in rows. Generously cover each slice with tonnato sauce using a spoon, spreading it in an even layer. The sauce should cover the meat completely, creating a smooth creamy “blanket.” Cover the platter with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or better yet 3–4 hours — during that time, the flavors of the meat and sauce will “marry.”
Step 7. Final garnish and serving.
Take the dish out of the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with whole capers, thin lemon slices, and, if desired, a few leaves of fresh parsley. Serve as a full main course on a hot day or as a festive appetizer. The dish should be cold, but not icy — at around 12–14 °C, its flavor opens up to the fullest.
💡 Fact: Vitello Tonnato is one of the few dishes in which meat and fish come together on one plate — something highly unusual in Italian cuisine. The recipe first appeared in Piedmontese cookbooks as early as the XVIII century, but in the original version the veal was not boiled; it was braised directly with tuna. The modern presentation with creamy sauce took shape only in the XX century and became an essential dish on every Italian Christmas and New Year’s table.